Want to help a local with a job? I have been unemployed for a year now, I take as many degrading cash jobs as possible despite my strong resume and
work history. I wouldn't ask someone on ATS but I live in Naperville and am truly fiscally shattered. I went to college and maxed out my credit after
3 years and was told I could not receive any more money. I am on the verge of completely defaulting on my student loan, I have 3 pairs of pants and my
shoes are so old the bottoms are worn through. No joke. I am on the verge of being a hobo, the kindness of others wears thin when you can't find
work. I am also don't qualify for unemployment even though my last official job bounced 8 of my paychecks causing me to leave.

Even if Op wont help. Is there anyone in the west burbs of Chicago with a work connection and a heart? I will even do janitorial work.

This is terribly sad! Are you typing this from some homeless shelter or are you trapped in a place of rubble surrounded by radiation with no water or
fresh food? Honestly, though, I do feel sorry for you, times are tough but what's going on in Japan is beyond compare in my opinion.

Well maybe now is the time, maybe we are lacking motivational music to do something together. Our cultural differences are not so different. And we do
need to help around the area. I know a lot of jobs in the Chicago area, private message me and I can offer some advice.

I am sorry my general focus isn't on my home country right now, I just feel like Japan needs our help now and in the future, their land will get
struck again by more earthquakes, why encourage them to build a life that will be destroyed again in seconds? These people at least need somewhere to
go until all is clear.

In the original Japan Quake thread I offered the same thing days ago, and my offer stills stands.

If there is a Japanese family in need of a place to stay then they are welcome in my house here in Michigan. I know it will not be the same as living
in Japan, but at least they will have a place to regroup till they get back up on their feet.

Again I am sorry we aren't focusing on job rates. Take a look around you people, who has an Xbox 360, a cell phone, and a flushable toilet? We do, I
can spare some spending money.
You want to know the truth? The money and time I am donating is going to take away from the trip my wife planned to our honeymoon cabin in Pigeon
Forge, Tennessee. I can do without a glorious view of the mountains until next year-maybe even this fall. And I certainly know we can get them food,
and share our amenities with them.
Or at least we can raise more awareness.

Good news design is done for the web site, bad news-I have been typing on here for about 13 hours, did homework, and I can't keep my eyes open. I
will post the web site link in the morning, it will contain all the information to get set up, including the laws that will define this whole process.
Hopefully we can work together to make this effortless. Please keep this thread alive while I catch some shut-eye I usually wake at 12:00 UTC.

Can we get some links to .gov sites as far as a visa in this scenario?
Can we get links to the shelters so people can find relatives?
Can we get other info/ideas on what we need to create a workflow process from point A to point B?

Can anyone else spare a bedroom for a few months?

Good night everyone, I will try and reply to everyone when I wake up, thank you for all your inspiration to keep this moving.

Listen up man. I appreciate people like you. If you truly mean what you are saying, then you have the liberty to help whoever you choose and feel good
about it. By what I've read, you sound like a man of action.

1st - there is a lot of people who care and are willing to help if they can, this is great!

2nd - a number of people have brought up the federal/state policy issue of immigration, and with good reason. This is a valid concern but it should
not sidetrack us from our goal because it is something we can easily overcome with the support of the people. Thus, this is something we should focus
on after the group/organization is well established and moving.

3rd - a number of people have asked some very obvious questions such as; "why now? why them? why not during Katrina, or Haiti, or for Africa, or for
here in America now since the recession hit?", and I think they are right, why haven't we created more groups like this in the past? Well some of us
have, but surely not enough of us, so who is there to blame but each and every last one of us who is capable of helping others and not doing so? It is
easy to sit on the sidelines and interfere judgment upon the next man when you see him stand up under the spotlights of public attention, but doing so
out of spite, or fear, or ignorance is reckless and down right self-defeating.

I do, however, agree with these people. If you/we/someone is to create a group or a movement directed towards emergency relief support for individuals
and families that are in harms way because of natural disasters, then why not also include people whose lives are directly in harms way because of war
and societal decay? To this I would challenge, can we not use this disaster to create the foundation for that potential effort to exist within our
society?

We must start somewhere. Maybe one day this type of compassion will be the "norm" for our society and thus these groups will no longer need to exist
on an "official platform", but until that day arrives people like the OP and others will be driven to spread this message and effort in any way they
can think of.

PS.

Can we get some links to .gov sites as far as a visa in this scenario? Can we get links to the shelters so people can find relatives? Can we get other
info/ideas on what we need to create a workflow process from point A to point B?

But still neither the OP nor you, seem to understand the very easy concept that regardless of the time-frame, in order for a foreigner to be
accepted into the United States of America he/she is going to have to go through a very stringent process and is going to need to have certain
documents at hand. Documents which aren't easy to get hold of.

But, you live in the UK so how could you possibly know how we accept foreigners here? We take refugees from countries all over the world all the
time. Your lack of knowledge about the USA baffles me.

The Bureau's mission statement:
The mission of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) is to provide protection, ease suffering, and resolve the plight of persecuted
and uprooted people around the world on behalf of the American people by providing life-sustaining assistance, working through multilateral systems to
build global partnerships, promoting best practices in humanitarian response, and ensuring that humanitarian principles are thoroughly integrated into
U.S. foreign and national security policy.

The USA has the highest acceptance rate for foreigners on the entire planet. Displaced people flock here. I have met plenty of refugees even where I
live. Tell me - how many people does the UK allow to migrate or take up asylum per year?
Paperwork? Hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Millions of Mexicans, Millions of Polish, and Millions of other ethnic groups have arrived on our shores
without any type of paperwork.

And I really don't want to begin talking about the legal battles the OP is going to have to go through.

Legal battles? What in the hell are you talking about? What legal battles? If people are refugees, or displaced and the USA takes them in - there is
no legality about it.

People, people, people...

Now, where is my joint...

Also, I have a good friend who was banned because of drug references - but yet I see no mods taking care of your obvious trolling.

If you don't know anything about the USA and how it's immigration works - how can you even attempt to argue about it? :shk:

But knowing the japanese, I suspect most are too proud and courageous and will rather stay home to rebuild their lives.
Well myself, I would rather take my chances with earthquakes than living in a Chicago suburb!

OP your heart is beautiful and honest. You are very brave for taking this on and trying to do "something" while allowing others to join you in
trying to do "something" as well.

I have noticed many wonderful replies and I have also noticed replies which, at first glance, may make us feel frustrated. A few years ago I learned
about something called HOTS personality test. It stands for Hare, Owl, Turtle, Squirrel. It has to do with people's working personalities and the
effectiveness of teams during a project. In the grouping of Hare, Owl, Turtle, Squirrel. Hare is an idea starter, Owl chooses priorities and focuses
everyone, Turtle points out all the reasons that it won't work...along with every possibly tragic outcome, and Squirrel takes the final plan and
turns it into action. Every type is needed.

Some of these posts remind me of the Turtle personality which points out all the reasons that it won't work. Sometimes this role comes across in an
extremely negative way to the other personality types who just want to get started on the good part. After I learned about this, I saw these Turtle
people in a completely different light. They are needed and their intentions are good. They just want you to succeed. They don't want you to get
three quarters of the way through and get pummeled to death because you failed to prevent an obstacle which could have been provided for. The worst
nightmare of this Turtle personality type, is to watch an idea fail, thinking "I saw that at the very beginning, why didn't I say something then so
it could be provided for?".

So, my point is...although some of these posts truly are trollish replies...some of them really are trying to show all of the things that could happen
so that you may find a way to overcome them before it becomes a problem and shuts down your whole endeavor.

I think, for the most part, people want to do good things. Some just show it in a way that not everyone understands. Hopefully you will be able to
find a few Turtles to keep you out of trouble throughout this beautiful endeavor.

3rd - a number of people have asked some very obvious questions such as; "why now? why them? why not during Katrina, or Haiti, or for Africa, or for
here in America now since the recession hit?",

Katrina:
Displaced people from Katrina were provided for by: Utah, Illinois, Texas, NY... etc - And those are just off the top of my head. I think the entire
US helped out with that effort along with Japan and most of the world.

Haiti: Thousands of people were evacuated to the USA - and we contributed to their relief efforts just slightly under the dollar amounts raised for
Katrina. (see image below). People board a US Air Force C17 at the Port-au-Prince airport to be evacuated from Haiti to Florida

What I wonder is why relief efforts are so slow getting of the ground for Japan. I mean, they helped us in Katrina, they helped Haiti.... but yet
people in the USA are not donating to the people of Japan as quick as we should.

Natural disasters typically trigger an outpouring of monetary and in-kind support from Americans. But a week after the deadly earthquake and tsunami
in Japan, some U.S. non-profit groups say donations are slow in coming.

Emergency workers are still pulling bodies from beneath the tangle of debris . Survivors crowd makeshift shelters as snow blankets the destruction
outside.
International aid efforts are underway. But donations from Americans lag, compared to earthquake relief for Haiti last year.

"My understanding is Japan is a very wealthy country so it hadn't really crossed my mind that they would need donations," one American man said.

Another American said, "It just didn't occur to me because their government is equally as powerful as the United States."

MSNBC
According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, charities raised more than $47 million in the first four days after the disaster struck in Japan. By
contrast, four days after the earthquake struck in Haiti last year, more than $150 million had been raised.

I am sorry my general focus isn't on my home country right now, I just feel like Japan needs our help now and in the future, their land will get
struck again by more earthquakes, why encourage them to build a life that will be destroyed again in seconds? These people at least need somewhere to
go until all is clear.

I know everyone is trying to be nice, but I'll just say it: This is a self-absorbed gesture. If you don't want to help the homeless people near you,
then you are choosing one form of humanity over another.

If your actions came from the right place, you wouldn't need to post them on the internet.
Please use the enormous amount of time and money that you'll spend in this egotistical endeavor and use it to help the people right next to you who
are hit by something just as real and hard...

Oh, so you have been to Chicago and have seen how our suburbs are? I mean, seriously... what an uneducated comment (what should I expect from ATS
right?). I live in a very nice suburb... most suburbs are pretty expensive. There are lots of Japanese people here, there are lots of other cultures
too.

I know everyone is trying to be nice, but I'll just say it: This is a self-absorbed gesture. If you don't want to help the homeless people near you,
then you are choosing one form of humanity over another.

If your actions came from the right place, you wouldn't need to post them on the internet.
Please use the enormous amount of time and money that you'll spend in this egotistical endeavor and use it to help the people right next to you who
are hit by something just as real and hard...

Do you seriously want to know how many HOMELESS shelters there are in my city??? I mean what a silly argument you are making. People help the
homeless in Chicago ALL the time. Perhaps we are different than the city you live in - we actually try our best to take care of people.

Oh, so you have been to Chicago and have seen how our suburbs are? I mean, seriously... what an uneducated comment (what should I expect from ATS
right?). I live in a very nice suburb... most suburbs are pretty expensive. There are lots of Japanese people here, there are lots of other cultures
too.

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